Thursday, September 24, 2009

New York Times ad: Musa As-Sadr

A group of Lebanese from Detroit bought a half page in the New York Times yesterday to protest the visit of Qadhdhafi to New York City and to call for information on the plight of Imam Musa As-Sadr. This group of Lebanese (presumably Shi`ites from South Lebanon) could not buy a quarter page or less to protest the Israeli wars on Lebanon throughout the years? Don't get me wrong. I am in favor of protesting Qadhdhafi's rule daily (not so much for what he did to Musa As-Sadr but for what he did to the Libyan people and the civilian passengers on plane that he ordered bombed), but it would have made more sense if they spent their money against a state that killed and kidnapped more than one person. And the Amal supporters even demonstrated at the UN, calling on Qadhdhafi to "free Sayyid Musa." Yes, the entire world knows who "sayyid Musa" is, and you still think that "Sayyid Musa" is still alive? And why did you not demonstrate when Israeli was bombing your villages and towns in South Lebanon? Or is it because it is safe to demonstrate against Qadhdhafi because he is reviled here in the US? My father was a friend of Musa As-Sadr (and was even friends with the his two companions who were kidnapped) but I never liked the man: from the first time I met him when I was seven or so. And of course, he played a horrible role in the civil war in 1976 on the side of the Syrian regime, against the Lebanese National Movement. I do hold political grudges. You bet.